It's All About Patience
by kerrbear
Summary: Part 2 in the "Patience" series. Some of the guys are having some issues involving Patience. Mostly just an overview of their different worlds and how everyone's coping with the newest member of the turtle family! R&R!


Here's Part Two of the "Patience" series! Thanks to my two reviewers for the feedback! ^_^

&&&&&&

Leonardo's P.O.V.

It had been nearly a month since Patience had been living with us, and it had been two weeks since Raph and Patience had announced their so-called relationship. When Raphael had informed our family of this, I think all of us were taken aback by this development. After all, Raphael and Patience weren't exactly of the same…Species. And the only thing that they seemed to have in common was their tempers. Other than that, they were polar opposites. Patience was loud, bubbly, and overly obnoxious. Raph was loud, moody, and unpredictable when it came to his moods. What he saw in Patience, I have yet to find.

It's not that I have a problem with Patience. Within the first couple of days I could tell that she wasn't going to be any threat to our family. However, just because she wasn't a threat, didn't mean I automatically approved of her. To be quite honest, I didn't approve of her at all. Patience is actually a pretty decent person, even with her less-than-appropriate attire. However, her attitude is out of the question for living under our roof. I had learned just from my first encounter from Patience that she was going to be difficult…Especially when it came to keeping her mouth shut.

I had no problem accepting strangers, and I had no problem with having them speak their minds. In my opinion, honesty was the most admirable quality in a person, as was the idea of being yourself. However, Patience took both of these qualities to herself in the extremes. Often times, I would find myself annoyed when she would make fun of our way of life—From our meditation to our training. Her teasing soon led to Donnie and Mikey becoming sloppy—Especially Mikey who somehow decided to turn his training into one big joke whenever Patience was around. This infuriated me that Patience had this kind of effect on my brothers, yet what infuriated me more was how Raph had said nothing to Patience about cutting it out.

More often than not, Patience would also go about tormenting me when I was practicing. Normally, I can tune anyone out during my training, but what with her constant chattering and critiquing, I would find myself messing up. Soon, the name-calling started, and her lack of disrespect and utter distaste towards me began to show when I began butting heads with her.

However, what annoyed me the most about Patience was her attitude towards my father. Not only had she decided from the start that she wasn't going to like me, she also decided she wasn't going to like my father either. Treating me with disrespect was one thing, treating my _father _with disrespect was a whole other gang. My father had been nothing but amiable to her since she had first entered our home. Yet one comment he had made had been blown completely out of proportion to the point that Patience would often act out in front of Splinter if only to get a rise out of him. Of course, my father was much better than bowing down to an obnoxious hormonal teenage _girl_, but she at least managed to get a rise out of me. To her amusement, she began to refer to me as "Junior"…Short for _Splinter _Junior. This royally upset me. It was one thing for Raph to call me that…But Patience had no right to abuse my relationship with my father, especially when she knew _nothing_ about our family's history.

I truly believed that all of these problems would go away if Patience would just go back to school. But I knew that Patience wouldn't listen to me. I tried talking to Donnie and Mikey about talking to Patience about her education, but they had only laughed. I then went to Raph who had gone into a long rant about how I had to be such a control freak, and how I never accepted people for who they were. He of all people knew this wasn't true, but seeing as Patience clearly had my brothers wrapped around their fingers, I realized that the idea of talking to Patience about her education was a lost cause.

Instead, I did what I did best when dealt with a powerful enemy…I blocked her out and focused on the task at home which went from being the leader to my brothers, or just doing cleaning tasks around the lair.

But on this one particular day, I finally snapped.

Splinter was watching one of his favorite soap operas, and I was in the dojo not too far away perfecting one of my katas. I saw Patience sit on the couch to watch the show. I found this odd because she was usually attached to Raph. In fact, the two of them had become inseparable…Still a mystery to me. But there she was, watching the soap opera. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her pull out a book, beginning to tune out the soap opera. When a commercial came on, I saw my father turn towards Patience hesitantly, and I instantly stopped my training. I knew my father hated being rude and pretending like a guest wasn't in his presence, but I could tell that he was crossing into dangerous waters.

I eyed him warily as he brought up to Patience about what she was going to do about her education. Patience's head snapped up so fast, I thought she was going to dislocate her neck. She opened her mouth, and unleashed a flow of such _vile _words that I felt I was going to be sick, and from my father's expression, I could tell he felt the same. I knew that Patience had a temper, but I always thought that she would use a little discretion when she was around her elders. Apparently I was wrong, and I was so mortified, that I couldn't even utter a word of rebuke.

I saw Patience stand up and storm out of the living room with a huff, slamming the door to her room with an audible bang. So infuriated was I, I didn't even bother to check up on my sensei. Instead, I went up to the garage, sensing my brother's presence there.

Sure enough, I found Raph cursing to himself as he messed around with his bike. I was by this point, shaking with rage.

"Raph!" I barked, startling my younger brother. "We need to talk." I snapped.

Raph sighed warily and wiped his hands on a rag before leaning against the Battle Shell. "What is it _now_ Fearless One?"

"You need to seriously talk to Patience about her attitude, because I am _done _with it!" I exploded, pointing a finger towards the door.

I visibly saw Raph change into "danger mode" as he stalked towards me. "We've been down this road before Leo." Raph hissed, getting right up into my face. "Whatever Patience does, it's who she is. And I won't have you changing her to fall in line like one of your _soldiers_." He spat, jabbing his finger into my plastron.

"Her amount of disrespect towards me and Splinter is unacceptable!" I shouted. "You should've been down there Raph! I have _never _heard such _vile language _come out of a _girl's _mouth! And it was at Splinter!" I shouted, my voice pitching higher. "I allowed her to stay here because of _you! _But if you can't get her to clean up her act, I'm going to throw her out! There is _no need _for her to be acting like this! Not after everything we've done for her." I finished, crossing my arms over my plastron, as if daring Raph to defy me.

Raph, to my surprise, actually seemed sad. "I'm sorry." He muttered, pinching the space between his eyes.

I blinked. "What?" I asked. After all, I didn't want an apology from _Raph_.

Raph sighed, his shoulders heaving. "Patience has…Issues with authority figures. Her parents were abusive towards her, and she had some teachers that butted into some issues that clearly weren't their business. I think she grew up to not have respect towards the elderly because…Well…Look where she came from." He said with a shrug.

I found myself sighing as well, releasing a huge wave of exasperation. "Raph…I'm sorry about Patience's past but still. Her behavior…It's still unacceptable."

Raph shook his head. "Forget it Leo. I know where this is going. You want me to try to change her. It's not going to happen. Patience is who she is. Whatever she feels towards people…Well, that's just her. I know that she can be rude when she's being honest sometimes…And I know she's out-spoken but…Those are all the reasons as to why I like her." Raph shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. "I think…I think you just need to give Patience a chance is all."

"A _chance_?" I repeated incredulously. "I've _given _her a chance! And I can't say I'm liking what I'm seeing!" I snapped, feeling my temper rising.

Raph glowered at me. "I mean a real honest-to-God _chance _Leo. You're not going to learn anything about her by just standin' around and watchin' her. You need to actually _talk _to her."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Because Patience is _really _going to want to talk to me."

Raph threw up his hands in frustration. "Leo, the whole reason as to why she pisses you off is because you never even _tried _to get to know her. After you met her, you stayed away from her like she was carryin' a _plague _or somethin'. If you ask to talk to her and show an interest, you _might_ see a change in attitude."

I eyed my brother doubtfully and I saw Raph begin to grow angry, but soon the anger dissipated. In its place was exhaustion. "Look bro, I know this is hard for you to accept, but I really like Patience. She makes me…Well…She makes me happy, and she makes me feel like I'm an equal to her. I'd really appreciate it if you guys could get along." He said softly, looking up at me expectantly.

Sure enough, I cracked. "Fine." I huffed. "One chance. But if she doesn't smarten up Raph, I'm getting rid of her."

&&&&&&

I stood uncertainly outside of Patience's room, debating on whether I should really go through with this or not. I understood where Raph was coming from, I really did. I mean, if I was in his situation, I would probably want my family to like who I was with too. I just couldn't see what Raph saw in Patience. Obviously that was the point as to why he wanted me here, but even still. Raph had changed since he met this girl, and I had to admit that it was for the better. To me though, I didn't see where this change was coming from. Patience, being a sixteen-year-old girl, was hormonal and obnoxious. So how could a personality like that change Raph? According to him, Patience was actually mature for her age. I find this funny because to me she acted exactly like a child.

Still, seeing as Raph was my brother, I decided the least I could do for him was talk to Patience for him. It probably wouldn't change things between us, but at least Raph couldn't blame me for not trying. And as a leader I had to learn to make sacrifices both on the battlefield and off…It was just…Well, to be quite personal…I sometimes feel like facing Patience is worse than when we used to face the Shredder.

I took a deep breath, mustering as much pride as I could, and raised my fist to knock. Before my fist even touched her door, Patience swung the door open, music blasting out of that God-forsaken iPod, completely oblivious to my existence, and rammed right into me.

_**Not**_ a good start.

"Geez Leo!" Patience exclaimed at me, her cheeks flaring red with rage.

And here came the hormones.

"What is the matter with you?! Is this apart of your ninja training?! Sneaking up on people and try to give them cardiac arrest?! Because you were pretty damn close!" She snapped, stomping her foot, her fists clenched at her sides.

I did everything I could to hold back my temper at that biting comment, but I couldn't help but give a retort.

"Actually Patience, the reason as to why you were so startled was because your senses are turned off with that ridiculous music blasting in your ears. If you didn't have your music blasting, then you most likely would be accustomed to your surroundings, and therefore might have heard me coming."

I realized as I finished this that I was coming off as a smart-ass. This meant that our bad start was not improving.

Sure enough, Patience rolled her eyes and yanked her headphones out of her ears. "Satisfied Ninja Boy?" She snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest, fuming at me and snapped, "Well?! Obviously you came up here for _something_."

I shook my head, and said quickly, "Er…Right…Well um…It occurred to me that…Maybe you and I haven't started on the right foot and I thought that we could get to know each other and…Try to understand one another." I stammered.

Patience's anger dissipated to reveal smugness. "Raph sent you up here to talk to me didn't he?" She asked.

I gaped at her. "Well…No…I mean that is…Uh…" I sighed in defeat. "_Yes_." I replied begrudgingly.

Patience chuckled. "I knew he'd get you to crack." She said, winding up her iPod's ear buds before sticking the contraption into her front pocket.

"So…You really wanna get to know me, huh Leo?" She asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Um…I don't think I'd be here if I didn't _want _to." I replied, my eye ridge furrowing.

"True, but Raph technically forced you."

"Raph can't _force me _to do anything!" I replied defensively.

Patience chuckled. "Right. Because you're the fearless leader that everyone obeys with no questions asked."

I glowered at her because one, I didn't have to answer to such a degrading response, and two…I couldn't really answer to that because she knew as well as I did that my brothers gave me a hard time all the time.

Patience rolled her eyes and tugged on my arm. "C'mon Oh Fearless One before you change your mind."

&&&&&&

"Um…Patience?" I said uncertain, as she stopped me in front of a manhole cover leading up to the surface. "I hope you realize that it's still daylight and I can't be seen."

Patience shot me a look that clearly stated that she thought low of me. "I _know that _dumb ass." She snapped, and I actually flinched at her language. "I know a place where you _can't_ be seen. And if it makes you feel any better, Raph showed me it." She said sarcastically, all ready beginning to climb.

I sighed exasperatedly and followed her, figuring that if this went badly Raph would just have to owe me big time.

Luckily, the manhole cover opened up into the shadows, and Patience climbed up a fire escape, me following behind her. I knew I easily could've flipped up to the top, but I knew doing so would lead to her giving me a hard time.

As soon as we reached the rooftop, Patience led me over to the ledge, leaning up against it where all of Times Square could be seen.

"It's prettier at night, but I think it's pretty in the daylight too." Patience said with a shrug.

I nodded knowingly, and rested my elbows on the ledge. "I know it is. Raph and I used to come up here all the time when we were kids."

Patience looked over at me, her auburn hair blowing back from her face against the slight breeze. "You and Raph are pretty close, huh?"

I shrugged. "I guess you could say that. Our relationship is…Complicated. I think that we're closer than we are to Donnie and Mikey…But…Well…You've seen us. We fight a lot."

Patience shrugged. "Sometimes when you really care about someone, you sometimes find yourself arguing with them because you want to protect them…And often times…They don't see things your way."

I chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like me and Raph." I noticed a sad smile grace Patience's features, and it peaked my curiosity. "Was there ever somebody in your life like that?"

Patience glanced at me, obviously taken aback by the question, before smiling slightly. "Nah. None that I can think of anyway. I mean, I kind of always thought that that was how my parents' relationship was: Because no matter how many times they fought…They never divorced. So that must mean that there's some love still there right?" She asked.

I nodded. "Right."

We stood on the rooftops for awhile in silence, and I began to chew my lip as I overlooked the city below. I didn't know what to talk about. I didn't know what Raph expected me to do to get to know her better.

"Raph really respects you, you know." Patience said, breaking the silence and startling me.

I gave her a sideways glance. "No kidding?" I asked, if only to make conversation. It wasn't that I was being smart, I just knew that Raph respected me all ready…His loyalty to me out in battle proved it.

I saw a flash of movement from behind, and immediately snapped my gaze back down below, searching for any sign of trouble. I turned my senses onto high alert…But I sensed nothing.

Patience sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you ever do anything _besides _be a ninja?"

I looked at her, a frown etched on my face. "Someone could need my help."

Patience snorted. "Uh huh. And you're just going to slink around in the shadows and play Superman?"

I glowered at her. "It's my _job_ Patience. Just because I can't be _seen _doesn't mean that I can't _help_. It's my duty."

Patience threw her hands up in the air. "Duh!" She exploded. "But _everyone _needs a break Leo! Hell, it's Raph, Mikey, and Donnie's duty to protect the innocent but you don't see them on constant red alert!"

"Their situation is completely different." I muttered.

"How?!" She shot back. "How are they _any _different from you Leo? Besides their personalities, you guys are all in the same boat!"

"THEY DON'T HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT THIS FAMILY!" I roared at her, startling both herself and me.

Patience's eyes had grown wide with shock, but she quickly masked all that and took a big shuddering breath.

Feeling ashamed at not keeping my feelings in check I replied quickly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper there."

"No." Patience said, and I was positive she was going to give me a lecture and that this get-to-know-one-another conversation was going to be over. "Don't be sorry. You can only bear so much."

I was so taken aback, that I actually didn't offer her a reply. I only stared at her, which I know is extremely rude. I was just caught off guard because, from what I had seen of Patience, she didn't like getting yelled at.

Patience looked at me and said, "You didn't want to be leader, did you Leo?"

I quickly closed my mouth, and stiffened. Patience let out a soft chuckle at my reaction.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything." She said, turning back to the ledge to trace a design into the concrete with her finger. "I kind of all ready figured that you had to train for you job at a young age…And that you probably didn't get to have much of a childhood like your brothers did."

She looked up at me through her eyelashes and offered me a sad smile. "That's kind of why I don't particularly care for Splinter. I understand that training someone to be a leader takes a lot of work. I understand that even training your family in ninjitsu is work in and of itself. But…I don't believe in having kids get trained for such a violent future…Because…They miss out on having an actual childhood."

I cleared my throat, closing off my emotions. "We had a childhood." I said, focusing straight ahead into the distance.

"Yeah, after your training you did."

I didn't say anything. I knew that this was also rude, but no one had ever looked at our past the way she did. No one had ever questioned the way Splinter had raised us, or put a lot of thought into it like Patience had. And Patience had actually hit the nail right on the head. Most of our childhood _had _revolved around training. I remember there were countless times where even _I _would drag myself to the dojo, more willing to play than to train.

But of course, Splinter did let us have fun. On top of being a sensei, he was also our father…And he did all the things any other father would do. He fed us and kept us warm and taught us the basic skills we would need like reading and writing. He taught us manners and disciplined us when we did something wrong. And he _did_ let us have fun. I can remember all of my brothers and I coloring or playing tag in the lair with Splinter supervising us. Occasionally he'd even join us. Granted, most of our games were really training us for our future was ninjas—But Splinter never told us to play those games…We'd just naturally play them like any other kid.

So, Patience was right in some respects, but when it came to Splinter, she was wrong. Splinter may have trained us early for our futures today, but if he hadn't, we'd probably be screwed. In my opinion, he was the best father I could ever ask for.

Still, I had this nagging in the back of my brain telling me that Patience had also been right when she had said I hadn't wanted the job as a leader. It was true…I hadn't. I had only been a kid when Splinter had told me that my job was to lead our clan…I hadn't fully understood the responsibility. I had been ecstatic, and even a bit boastful. But when the actual training and responsibility kicked in…I began to hate myself for being the one who was chosen.

There were many times where after training with my brothers, all I'd want to do is go back to sleep or go off and play with them. But sensei would often stop me, and I would have to train longer. As I grew older, I began to notice that I was more distant from my brothers—That I couldn't relate to them…I think I actually forgot to have fun.

Still, my father gave me the stimulation I needed to keep going, and helped me enhance my ninja senses. No matter where I was, I always knew when my brothers were in trouble or when they were hurt or scared. Sometimes, I would just appear to them, like magic, and offer them what comfort I could. I gained their respect that way.

One of the images that's still in my head today was when Mikey had still been afraid of thunder, and I had been the one to come to him. I had held him while he clung on to me, afraid to go to Splinter because he though Raph might see him. For awhile, he had called me his hero. And as we had grown up, the memory faded and Mikey grew out of the phase of adoring his big brother, but for me, it was something I never forgot. I knew that if it wasn't for Splinter, I wouldn't have that kind of special memory with any of my brothers.

But how was it that Patience just…Knew? Had she been through the same thing with growing up too fast? Because she had been abused?

"But…Leo?" Patience asked, startling me out of my reverie.

"Yeah?" I asked quickly, trying to stay attentive so she wouldn't think I didn't care what she had to say.

"Just remember that even Superman takes a break every now and then."

I chuckled and Patience joined in. "I'll…Try to keep that in mind." I said and added, "You know Patience, I had you all wrong. And I'm sorry I judged you. I mean, first I thought you were just some immature girl, but you're…Well, you've got quite a head on your shoulders. And after everything that happened with the Purple Dragons…"

Patience laughed. "Yeah, well, I know I don't have to worry about the Purple Dragons anymore, so I sleep easier."

I raised an eye ridge. "What do you mean?"

Patience frowned at me. "You know," She said slowly. "Because you intercepted them or whatever and shut down their little "date rape" operation."

I frowned at her. "No we haven't. We lost sight of the Purple Dragons about three weeks ago. They moved their headquarters."

My good moment with Patience came crashing down around me as Patience's eyes narrowed to mere slits.

"_What?"_ She hissed dangerously.

Me and my big mouth.

&&&&&&

Mikey's P.O.V.

You know how sometimes you're in this tough situation that you just want to escape from even though this situation isn't your fault? That would be the story of my life right about now.

Good news: Leo and Patience had somehow reached a silent agreement that they were going to like each other. Bad news: Leo had opened his big stupid mouth and informed Patience that the Purple Dragons, a group that had raped and kidnapped her and raped her some more about a month ago, were not stopped as she thought. In fact, Patience had actually taken on the assumption that we _had _stopped them, and now she was mad at Raph for not saying anything, especially when he knew how upset she had been.

All of this meant gone with the happy feelings of newfound love. Gone were the rainbows and butterflies flying around the lair. In its place was a raging battlefield between Raph and Patience. I think there was also one going on between Raph and Leo, but if there was, it wasn't _nearly _as bad as what was happening with Patience and him.

Currently, I was sitting at the kitchen table on Day 3 of Patience vs. Raphael. Raph was making some toast, and I was eating some cereal reading the funnies. It was actually a typical morning.

Then Patience came in. The poor bastard didn't even see her coming. And I wasn't about to move, afraid that the slightest move would attract the predators to latch their teeth into their prey a.k.a me.

"Could you please get out of my way?" Patience snapped, barely glancing at me. Not moving really works.

I saw my older brother's back stiffen before he stated, "I'm making breakfast."

"It's a toaster. You can easily go leave and stand somewhere else so that I can get a bowl." She snapped.

I heard Raph take in a deep breath before he replied through clenched teeth, "Why don't if I just get the bowl _for you_?"

"No thanks. I'd rather get it myself. And you're standing in front of the cabinet that holds the bowl. So just get out of my way."

"I _can't_. I'm making toast." Raph snapped.

Patience rolled her eyes. "It's _toast_. You stick it in the toaster, you go about your business, it pops up, you grab it, everyone's happy."

"Sometimes the toaster gets stuck." Raph said, his fists now clenched at his side.

"So ask Donnie to fix it."

"He _just _fixed it." Raph retorted.

"Oh, so what you're saying is that even you put the responsibility of fixing the toaster into Donnie's capable hands, you realize that he very well could've lied to you in fixing it and therefore betrayed you."

Somehow I had a feeling we weren't talking about the toaster and Donnie anymore.

Raph whipped around, his eyes blazing. "_Noooo_," He said impatiently. "What I'm _saying _is despite the fact that Donnie _did his best, _I realize that he's not perfect and he can't always fix everything."

"So, what you're saying is that it's okay for Donnie to just leave you with a crappy toaster because he tried his best." Patience demanded, with her fists on her hips.

"Yes." Raph said smugly.

"Huh." Patience said, tapping her chin with her finger as if contemplating something. "Then, what's your excuse then? Because as far as I'm concerned, you definitely didn't _try _to stop the Purple Dragons."

Ouch.

Raph's breathing began to come out abnormally and that's how I knew Patience had _really _pissed him off. "I beg your freaking pardon Patience, but it's not _my _fault that they have no balls and moved their headquarters. And it's not my fault that I lost track of them! I'm doin' the best I can right now along with my bros!"

"But, you didn't tell me. So to me, that's my assumption that you did something wrong. Like, how could you _forget _to tell me that their operation _wasn't _shut down? Did it just _slip _your mind? Or are you the one that doesn't have any balls?"

Raph began to shake violently before responding, "Oh believe me, I have balls. I just have a low tolerance for people who look to cause problems on purpose."

Patience's blue eyes blazed angrily. "I'm not causing a problem! I thought I could trust you! I trusted you into taking care of them for me! You told me I would never get hurt again! But how can you promise me something like that when it's based off of a lie?! They could come after me again Raph! You can't say that they couldn't! And whose fault would it be if I got kidnapped again?! It would be yours! And do you want to know why? BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT YOU HADN'T STOPPED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!" She roared.

Raph let out a long shuddering breath. "I'm getting outta here before I say something I regret." He muttered before storming out of the room.

"Good." Patience spat, removing a bowl and slamming it down at the kitchen table before sitting down hard in her seat. She grabbed my cereal bowl and began to pour its contents, an angry scowl etched into her features.

She must've felt me staring at her, because the next thing I knew, she was slamming down the box and snapping, "What?" at me.

I cleared my throat, shifting uncomfortably. "Don't you think you were being a little bit hard on him?" I asked meekly.

Patience's gaze grew darker. "That just great. I have his stupid brother defending him." She spat, before shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

I sighed. "Patience, I'm not defending him. I just…I think you dug a little bit deep on that one."

"He lied to me!" She snapped.

"He didn't lie…"

"…Fine! He didn't tell me!" She interrupted, cutting me off.

I placed my elbows on the table and tried to be as reasonable as possible. "Fine. I get it. He didn't tell you that he didn't stop the Purple Dragons. _But _did you ever ask him, or did you just assume?"

"Assume. But…"

"…But nothing." I said impatiently. "Patience, Raph probably didn't tell you because he all ready knew that you were having nightmares. If he told you out of the clear blue that we hadn't found them or shut them down or anything, wouldn't that make your anxieties worse?"

Patience glowered at me. "My anxieties are even _more _worse because I don't know if I can trust Raph or not."

I rolled my eyes. "Just because Raph doesn't tell you everything, doesn't mean that he's untrustworthy."

"Yes it does." Patience grumbled stubbornly.

"Fine." I said, beginning to grow angry. "If you don't mind hearing some of the shit we've seen then _I'll _just tell you about it. For instance, before this Purple Dragon crap started happening, we ran into this thing with the mob. Kids were disappearing off the streets. There were about a dozen or more missing. My brothers and I knew it was the mob because each of the kids' parents was connected with the mob. The mob's motto is to hurt the enemy where it hurts the most. In this case, it would be the kids. What's more precious than a child after all?

So my bros and I were able to track these kids down to the warehouse. After having an intense battle with the mob that led to about two or three deaths, we found the kids. They were all ready slaughtered in the basement of the headquarters. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought the walls were painted red. You can't even _imagine _how awful it was…Especially the scared looks on those kids' faces. We had to make an anonymous phone call to the police, but because the kids were in these awful positions, we decided to at least straighten them out a bit, let them look a little less awful for when the fuzz showed up. Every single kid is etched into my memory.

And you want to know who it hit the most? Raph. Because Raph takes his job very seriously. He wants to protect whoever he can at whatever the costs. And to see all those kids dead…It made him a bit colder inside. So yeah, Raph didn't tell you that he didn't stop the Purple Dragons. He didn't tell you because he was pissed that he let them get away. He didn't want you to worry, and he wanted you to feel protected. And to put it simply: There's just some stuff about what we do that you cannot _possibly _understand, and therefore, you shouldn't have to know it. 'Cause trust me, you don't want to know everything we see. Those kids are a perfect example.

So I'm sorry that Raph doesn't tell you everything, but if you think he's going to start, you might as well go back to living with your parents and find yourself a human boyfriend because that sure is hell is never going to happen. We don't tell you some stuff for your own protection and your own health. So until you're in our position, you will never understand, and we don't expect you to. But if you also think that Raph's just going to let you walk around New York by yourself, you're dead wrong about that too. Raph cares about you more than anything, and when he cares about someone, he's not just going to let them wander off on their own. Especially when he _knows _there's danger out there? He's not. So I think that if I were you, I'd stop being so high strung and cut my bro some slack. Whatever his reasons were for not telling you, it's for your own good most likely. If he thought it would benefit you by knowing, he would've told you. But it wouldn't have, because it's not like he's going to let you go anywhere alone, so just drop it and forget about it!"

I breathed heavily, glowering at Patience. I couldn't believe that I had just said all of that to her. That was, well…It wasn't normal for me. Most of the time, I tried to stay out of any spats that went on with my bros or between April and Casey. And granted, I loved Patience like a sister, but I found her whole temper to be a bit ridiculous. I just hoped she'd see things my way.

I noticed that her bottom lip was trembling, and seeing as her eyes weren't filling up, I was guessing that I had probably pissed her off.

Sure enough, she snapped, "You know something Mikey? You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my life is so much more _normal_ than yours, and I'm sorry if I don't _understand _you and your brothers' way of life. But let me tell _you _something: You want to know why I was so pissed at Raph for not telling me anything? It was because _I _told him everything! I even told him about how I was raped! I wasn't expecting some pity party, I just needed someone to talk to! Hell, I don't _care _about how violent or how gruesome of a battle or a scene you guys have seen! What I _care _about is having you guys talking to _somebody _like _me _about it! Because if you guys keep all of that crap bottled up inside, it's going to screw you up! And if Raph doesn't think that I can handle what he has to say, then I don't even know why we're in a relationship at all when he knows very well that I can handle the dark!" She snapped before storming out of the room.

I blinked blankly at Patience's empty seat, and for once, I had no witty comeback. I had nothing to say, because I realized that Patience had a good point.

&&&&&&

Raph's P.O.V.

I was out in the dojo, tryin' to blow off steam when I heard Patience yellin' at Mikey. What I heard caused my heart to clench. I had never been any good at seein' things from someone else's point of view. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid.

Of _course _that was why Patience was so upset. I had known from talkin' to her that she felt pretty strong 'bout bein' open and honest when bein' in a relationship. That was why she had told me every dark, funny, sad, what have you moment in her life. I had told her a lot of stuff about my childhood and bein' with my bros. I had never told her about any of my battles, 'cause I fell under the stereotype of girls bein' _fragile_. This I think about the girl whose been raped and who's probably gotten more of a beatin' in her lifetime than I have in the four years I've been out huntin' down scum of the earth. I had promised to tell 'er everything, and I hadn't because…

I saw Patience come storming out of the kitchen, and I quickly grabbed her elbow as she began to brush by me.

"Patience…Wait…" I said quietly.

"What?" She exploded at me, wrenching her elbow out of my grasp.

"I…I'm sorry." I stammered. "I…I shouldn't have…I…I _assumed _that you wouldn't be able to handle what I had to say…And I shouldn't have. Just like you shouldn't have assumed that I stopped the Purple Dragons. You shoulda asked me. I mean hell, I don't work miracles you know."

I could see her eyes fillin' up, and her bottom lip was startin' to quiver. I felt my heart squeeze, and I pulled her into my plastron without even thinkin' about it.

"I…I think what my real reason was…For not tellin' you about the Purple Dragons and about my…my battles and everything was because…I was…I was _afraid_ Patience. I was afraid that if I told you I hadn't stopped the people who had hurt you the most, that I had lost them that you wouldn't want me to be with ya. And if I did and you still stayed, I didn't want to tell ya about my life at night because…I didn't want to scare you away. I mean, what Mikey told ya about the mob, that's nothin' compared to some of the crap I've seen. And I just…I don't want you to be exposed to that life. I want you to try to live as normally as you possibly can with me. I don't want ya to get hurt by bein' exposed to the life I lead at night. My bros and I…I don't think we could handle losin' someone…Not after what happened with the Shredder. "

I looked down at Patience as she looked up at me, sniffling slightly. "Why not if you tell me now?" She asked quietly.

I raised an eye ridge. "You serious?"

She nodded, and managed a watery smile. "I like you a lot Raph, and…If…If we ever reach the whole "love" stage, I want to be at that stage knowing everything I can about you. I want to see you for all of your imperfections and for everything you've endured. Believe me, I can handle it. And if I can't, I'll just cover my ears but have you keep on going, because you can learn a lot about yourself by reliving some of the darkest moments in your life."

I managed a small smile. This was what I love about Patience: She was just incredible. And I knew that she would do just that, because when push came to shove, Patience put others before herself. I knew our relationship probably wasn't goin' to be pretty, and we weren't always gonna have mushy make-ups like this and see eye to eye, but I considered this to be a pretty damn good start.

"Let's start from the beginnin' then." I said, sitting her down in the middle of the dojo floor. "It all started with a man named Oroko Saki…"

&&&&&&

One week later

Donnie's P.O.V.

I shook my head as I heard Patience give out a triumphant shout as she kicked the soccer ball through the imaginary goal Leo was guarding.

"That's my girl!" Raph cheered, even though he was on the opposing team.

"You know it!" Patience shouted as Leo kicked the ball up into his hands.

"Good game." He panted, grinning at Patience.

"Thanks man!" Patience said, throwing her arms around Leo, nearly knocking him over in a hug.

Leo patted her awkwardly on the back, still not used to displaying so much affection. Instead of giving him a hard time like she usually would, Patience just grinned at him and punched him in the arm before wheeling on Mikey.

"Mikey! We won! Victory hug!" She bellowed.

"Nah Patience. That's okay. I really don't want to…Oof!" Mikey gasped as Patience plowed into him.

Raph shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I better be sure to keep an eye on her Leo, or else she might make a move on Mikey here."

Leo laughed. "Nah. I can't see any girl falling for a goofball like Mikey."

"Hey!" Mikey snapped, disentangling himself from Patience. "Did you not just _see _your girlfriend Raph? She was _all _over me. Chicks _love _me."

"Yeah, all right smart one." Raph retorted.

"Sorry Mike." Patience said, going over to Raph. "But _this _is me being all over someone." She said, before proceeding to kiss Raph on the beak.

"Okay. Gross." Mikey said quickly, averting his gaze and wandering over to me.

"I liked it better when they were fighting." He muttered, and I laughed at him.

I had to admit, it was going to take some _serious _getting used to on seeing Raph and Patience being all intimate and all in public. Raph really coming clean about a lot of stuff really gave Patience a better understanding on our lifestyle and on our family in general. Although she still wasn't up to getting to know Splinter better. We'd have to work on that.

_But _she actually got along with Leo, and Leo had actually become a little more lenient. Although he still trained like no tomorrow, Patience had given Leo back something he had long forgotten about: having _fun_. Apparently they had made a deal that Patience would stop picking on Leo if Leo took a couple of hours out of his day to have some seriously good times having fun with us. This led to me having to make a deal with Patience to not be shut up in my lab all the time too.

Raph and Patience had reached a mutual agreement to tell each other _everything_…And I mean everything. And as promised, when things got too gross or too hard to handle, Patience would cover her ears but still have Raph talk. I was finding more that she was more worried about our mental health than anything else. But Raph talking about what we had gone through really helped him become…Lighter for lack of a better word. He was still a hot head, but at least he wasn't overburdened like he used to be. I was beginning to think that Patience was going to become a new therapist for our family.

Patience had apologized to Mikey for exploding at him, even though there was no need because Mikey had been totally fine with it. But Patience had dubbed Mikey as her personal "venitlator", just because she knew Mikey was capable of throwing the stupid stuff she complained about back in her face. And I would still find myself walking in on them in a severe battle on Mikey's ridiculous video game system, so I knew that they were well off.

As far as Patience and I went, most of our bonding time was done where she'd come in to work with me on whatever I was doing in the lab. Most of the time we played a getting-to-know-you kind of game where we went back and forth listing off facts about ourselves. Ironically enough, we ended up getting on the topic of her education just yesterday, something none of had dared to bring up since Leo had tried to say something…

"_What are you going to do about school?" I had asked her curiously after she had told me her favorite subject was English. _

_She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I know that having an education is important and all, but I don't think that school was the right fit for me. I literally didn't fit in because I couldn't stand those kids. Plus with my past, it made it hard to get close to people. The way I see it, if I go back now, everyone's going to be asking me questions, and if I go back, I risk the chances of my parents taking me back again so that they can use me as their punching bag again." _

"_So does that mean that you're going to drop out?" I asked curiously. _

_Patience shook her head. "I have a couple of options. My personal favorite is home schooling. I can still be connected with the school, but it's not like anyone would have to go in for me or anything. If I needed to pick up books, I could just go in myself. Most of the information I could take through the phone, and I could probably purchase textbooks on the internet. That way I could still get my diploma knowing I learned what I would typically learn in the classroom without actually being there." _

_I frowned. "But…Who would teach you? As far as I know, when it comes to home schooling, you can't very well teach yourself." _

"_I know that. And…I know you're really busy and all but…I was thinking that maybe _you _could teach me. I promise I'll do whatever I can to make the load lighter because I know you have a lot to do as it is and everything. But…You're just such an amazing teacher, and I think I could just learn a lot more from you." Patience eyed me curiously, obviously bracing herself for what I was going to say. _

_I found myself grinning. "You little suck up. How am I supposed to say no to that?" _

So it was agreed that I would teach Patience in the lair. Patience was going to start looking for a job, because she hadn't totally ruled out the idea of college. I knew that Patience had a good head on her shoulder, and I knew that no matter what decision she made, she'd be okay.

It was also obvious that Patience had quite an impact on all of our lives, and I could tell that my brothers, including myself, absolutely adored her. Patience was something special, and I knew Raph wasn't about to let her get away so easily, which was probably why their relationship had seemed to move a bit fast in the beginning. Of course Raph had to figure that if something went wrong between the two of them, one of us would take her away. I doubted this would happen…Even though he hadn't said it, it was all ready pretty obvious that Raph loved her.

"Hey Raph!" Mikey called, startling me out of my reverie. "D'ya think it's about time that Patience met April and Casey?"

I actually did a double take from Patience to Mikey, to back to Patience again. Sure, Patience was great and everything but…Her meeting _April_? With her personality? Something told me that those two would be butting heads.

"Huh. Y'know Mike, that's not a bad idea, considerin' she's livin' with us and all." Raph said.

"And she's fully recovered." Mikey pointed out.

Patience looked between my two brothers before her eyes found Raph's. "Wait…Who's April and Casey? You haven't mentioned them to me yet."

Oh boy. This had disaster written all over it.

The End

&&&&&&

Meh. The ending kinda sucked but I still liked the general outcome of just seeing how Patience and the guys deal with each other's different personalities and their different worlds. Plus you kinda get to see the effect she's all ready beginning to have on the Hamato family.

**Anyway, next one-shot is called, "It's All About Patience". A lot dealing with the guys trying to talk April and Casey into meeting Patience and what happens when they do finally meet. Might be some scenes with Splinter too. I'm not sure if I'll include that or have another one-shot. Anyway, you can let me know when you REVIEW!!!!! Thanks for reading!**


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